The best museums in Austin to visit right now

With The Contemporary Austin, there’s more than meets the eye. For starters, it’s one institution with two locations; The Jones Center downtown and the 14-acre Laguna Gloria site just a bit further northwest. The former typically hosts various contemporary exhibits, and the building itself—outfitted with a projector screen visible from the street at night—functions as a standalone architectural installation piece. The latter houses an art school, the installation-ready Gatehouse Gallery, and an expanded Betty and Marcus Sculpture Park, which has featured pieces by many acclaimed artists, including John Grade, Charles Long, and Monika Sosnowska, among others. If you’re looking to explore an authentic link between “contemporary art and the fabric of [Austin] city life” with roots dating back over a century, the Contemporary belongs near the top of your list.

As one of the “foremost university art museums in the country … [with] one of the largest and most comprehensive” permanent collections of art in Central Texas—more than 21,000 works—the Blanton, located near the iconic UT Tower on the Longhorns’ campus, is the spot for museum aficionados in ATX. Expect dazzling interactive installations; European, Latin American, and Contemporary American paintings; rotating temporary exhibitions; and, of course, the famed “Austin” sculpture by Ellsworth Kelly. With more than 200,000 square feet to explore, the Blanton is one of those museums that one can visit over and over and find more hidden gems to admire and learn from.

Nobody is championing the city’s ‘Keep Austin Weird’ motto more than these folks on Sixth Street. Museum of the Weird is one of the country’s last authentic dime museums in the style of P.T. Barnum. Inside is a cavern of curiosities that includes mummies, mermaids, fossils, cryptids, and movie props, plus paranormal subject matter like UFOs and Bigfoot. You’ll be wowed and a little bit freaked out all at once. Look out for IG-friendly corners, like giant King Kong hands, and their Lucky Lizard gift shop is a brilliant spot to get pals one-of-a-kind gifts.

A quality that makes Austin unique is its dedication to preserving green spaces while building up its bustling metropolis around them. One such spot is the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum, located south of the river at the edge of the Barton Hills neighborhood. With rotating exhibitions in its museum space and four acres of beautifully maintained gardens, ponds, and dozens of bronze and stone sculptures donated by notable co-namesake Charles Umlauf (his wife Angeline planted the initial flora), anyone looking for a genuine art-meets-nature experience should make it a point to pop in before or after exploring adjacent Zilker Park and Barton Springs Pool. It’s a perfect spot for an afternoon picnic and/or open-air nap.

Sure, the centrally located Thinkery is technically a destination for the young’uns—there are countless hours’ worth of interactive science-steeped exhibits to explore on each visit, but the fun can extend to the adult world, too. Bring a fellow big kid and check out the likes of “Currents,” an exhibit that explores the concepts between water and sound (warning: things can get wet), and “The Light Lab,” a chance to view the spectrum of color, light, and shadows in a darkened gallery. Bottom line: In the spirit of Austin’s dedication to diversity and compassionate inclusion, the Thinkery offers fascinating hands-on adventures for people of all ages and stripes all the time. Keep an eye on the events calendar for special events.

Austinites are proud people, but Texans as a larger group are even prouder. Case-in-point: the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, where three floors of the Lone Star State’s history—the Story of Texas, as they call it—come to life with a plethora of continually updated artifacts ranging in scope from the 17th-century French shipwreck La Belle, to the Civil War and surrounding eras, to the Golden Age of NASA’s mission control operations out of Houston. And if you need a relaxing break after cramming your brain with all that Texas lore, there’s always a variety of feature films in the attached IMAX theater. With its proximity to the State Capitol building and UT Campus, the Bob Bullock Museum makes for a no-brainer tour add-on. Tip: admission is free on the first Sunday of every month.

Opening in 1957, the Harry Ransom Center is a place for curious minds to be inspired, specifically via 42 million literary manuscripts, 1 million rare books, 5 million photographs, and more than 100,000 artistic works. The free (that’s right, free) institution is also dedicated to keeping Austin weird by promoting alternative art. Permanent exhibitions include the Gutenberg Bible (one of five complete copies in the US) and the First Photograph (developed on a pewter plate for eight hours by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in mid-19th-century France), and past showings comprised pieces ranging from the whimsical artwork of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to photographer Eli Reed’s intense The Lost Boys of Sudan.

What’s special about a library full of the 36th POTUS’s things? It’s not just any hodgepodge collection; the 30-acre site and its 10-story building located next to the football stadium on UT Campus houses and displays more than 54,000 objects from all over the world—ranging from Middle Eastern antiquities to Oval Office furniture—donated by the President and Mrs. (Lady Bird) Johnson, their friends, and associates. Alongside an additional 45 million pages of documents, 650,000 photos, and 5,000 recordings, the collection doesn’t just portray a presidency; it provides a detailed snapshot of U.S. culture and politics in the 1960s right up to the present day. This includes the recent “Music America: Iconic Objects from America's Music History,” where items owned by the likes of Lady Gaga, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Taylor Swift were displayed.

If you’ve been to Austin, you’ve probably tasted the Tex-Mex (if not, what the heck were you doing?!), but there’s so much more to know about the capital city’s connection to Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture, both historical and contemporary. The best place to start is the Mexic-Arte museum, where celebrating that deep-seated link—through exhibitions spanning photography, painting, sculpture, and generally every artistic medium imaginable, depending on the artist and era—is largely the goal. Admission is free on Sundays, and if you need souvenirs, be sure to stop by the awesome gift shop at the front of the house.

A sweltering state packed with sweet-toothed locals means the Museum of Ice Cream’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Since opening at The Domain in 2021, lines have been seen around the block (especially on weekends), so you’d be wise to visit during off-peak weekdays in cooler months. Inside, it’s a feast of treats…literally. Sampling stations are at every turn, and they’re all unlimited. There are 12 multi-sensory installations detailing the history of the dessert as photogenically as possible—like the animal cookie carousel and the massive sprinkle pool. At the end, calm down at the retro pink bar where milkshakes, cocktails, and (even more!) ice cream is served.